Bad Day
by FeelingThePullCallYourName
Summary: Inspired by the song of the same title. Gwen is sick and tired of her life, as is Trent. Courtney and Duncan notice it and try to work together to help their friends. They might realize they need something more than a new life... TxG, DxC. One-shot.


**Another one-shot. Or two-shot. It will depend. Guys, I am sorry if I haven't updated any of my stories but I dunno, I didn't feel into update this week. So I wrote a lot of one-shots. Okay, promised no more one-shot until I'm done with update. I tried to make that a K+ but, you know, I have difficulties doing stories without curse. That's weird because I usually don't curse myself...**

**BTW: Just telling to check on my profile if you wanna know how many chapters are left for every story. **

**Bad Day is a song by the talented Daniel Powter, whom we never heard about after that song. Too bad, he has great emotions in his voice.**

**I don't own anything.**

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She walked down the fifth avenue to soon turn on Harrison, wind blowing her hair. The weather was cold but nice, the sky was gray but soft and fall just installed itself for the month of October. People would be greeting her, fearing her or even shun her, she wouldn't care. Her make-up was ruined, not that she had cried, or the humidity was too high, just the day spoiled it. She could cry, she could scream or even smile at the good points, nothing would bring her up. Trees were all changed color of reddish brown and at that time, she wondered where the moment she needed the most was. When her thoughts drifted her away, she stumbled on bump of the gray pavement. The goth looked down, sighed and continued until she crossed a bunch of leaves on the ground. Her anger amplified and, instead of crying, she brought her foot back and kicked them all up.

"Stupid life!"She muttered.

Her black velvet stiletto boot was wet by the water every single leaf was carrying and, with that, she knew the day could be worse. Her foot was now soaked and she was cold. Gwen now felt the magic was really lost as the formerly blue skies faded to grey.

She heard footsteps running behind her and the voice of a long time friend warming her up.

"Hey Gwen, wait!"Duncan yelled at the black streaked haired girl, who was fuming. She slowed down to let him catch her at the intersection of both streets. When he was at her side, Gwen continued her walk home with him following close behind.

"Jack told me your passion has gone away. He said he doesn't feel your passion in your illustrations anymore."He was referring to Gwen's boss, Mr. Perez. She was working in an advertising company as a graphic artist. It was well paid, had flexible schedules but she didn't feel fine into that. She never liked to give her art to sell things.

"Jack can go to hell."She replied, walking faster and frowning more.

"Hey," He grabbed his wrist and looked in her eyes to see the hint of sorrow she was unsuccessfully trying to hide. "What's wrong with you?"

The goth rolled her eyes, a bit annoyed.

"Nothing."She stated stubbornly.

She headed to the next street. He clearly knew what happened; no need to carry on.

…

He stood in the line at the Starbucks just to hit a new low, a brunette behind him. Courtney was playing on her PDA but she rapidly noticed something wrong with him when she saw he was all silent and sad.

"What's up with you?"She inquired, not even glancing at him.

"Nothing."He said, waiting for the blond before him to finish with her order.

She didn't ask anything else but she knew something was wrong with the dark haired man. Going to a coffee that late in the day wasn't in his habits; he always did that when he was profoundly depressed. For some people, gulping down a couple of beers was their way to forget; for the guitarist, coffee only helped him. She knew him well. Though TDA was over, Courtney and he became friend slowly in the Aftermaths. They were standing by each other to forget the pain both of their partners gave them. Courtney and Duncan broke up by the start of the third season. Trent moved in the same city as Courtney and they stayed close friends anyway. They were now 20.

Their turns came and he kept faking a smile to the cashier. He felt totally down but would never dare to tell. What he was suffering of was to embarrassing to share. He would certainly not tell Courtney, though she was his closest friend, because he feared that she would judge him. They exited the café with the coffee to go in hands and, still he was faking everything about him. She could not stand to see him that way anymore.

The brunette jumped in front of him before he could walk any further, imposing herself as a kind of bully.

"Okay, now you're gonna tell me what's wrong with you."

"I told you; nothing."

"That doesn't seem like a 'nothing."She protested, putting her hands on her hips. "Trent, you can tell me anything; you know that."

He sighed and leaned himself against the brick wall next to them. Even if the coldness of the late afternoon was making him shiver, frozen, he allowed himself to relax and stop. Maybe, if Courtney was asking that, she cared enough not to mock him. Though that was a great consideration, he decided to go another way.

"It's just my life has been way off line these days. I have a sucky job, I'm not as famous as that cheap rapper of Zeke though I have more talent than him and I…"He hesitated saying the last words. After another short reflection, he just made up his mind. "I'm falling to pieces every time. I feel like such a loser!"

"You aren't a loser. I'm sure life will bring you something good sooner."

They stayed quiet. She meant her words when she said that. Though she might be a hypocrite at times, she wouldn't lie on Trent's goodness. He was a great boy and he deserved anything good. Basically, in a flash, she suddenly knew what was wrong. That's why she didn't need to carry on.

…

Duncan took his path and headed home after the reaction of his friend earlier. Back in his small apartment, he dropped his key on the counter and, before looking for something to eat as usual, he reached the shelf in the living room and snatch a thick book made on leather. He sat on the couch while flicking through. It was pictures taken in TD years, maybe the best of his life. There, he met awesome friends, won a million bucks that he easily spent and, went out with two girls. Courtney was his first love and Gwen followed. Gwen and he had a 2 year relationship, moved here and broke up a year ago. Despite that, they stayed friends. Sometimes, Duncan wondered how it would have been if Courtney and he would have stayed together just a few more time. Maybe things would have been different. Anyway, that wasn't the point here.

He found a picture of a month before. It was him and Gwen holding each other. Duncan seemed happy but Gwen seemed sadder than any time. At this time, he knew that was a proof the camera doesn't lie. She had a bad day, he knew it and, unfortunately, he knew the only person that could help her out. At the next page, he found a paper stuck in between the plastic and the thin cardboard. It was a red number written on a piece of Sheet shredded off a notebook. Red lipstick was imprinted on the paper. He hurried to the phone with the album in hands and, just when he barely touched the phone, it rang instantly.

"Hello?"He answered, hesitantly.

"Duncan?"

That voice. That sweet but annoying voice was echoing through his ears. He couldn't believe what was happening; his princess was calling him. Duncan didn't know what to say at the moment, so she talked at this place.

"Look, I know we haven't talked for a while now but I need you to do something for me."

"What is it, Princess?"His attitude came back at the same time as his voice.

"Don't Princess me."She snapped, surely giggling at the nickname.

"Yeah, whatever."

"Duncan," She began, a little sheepish. "I think Trent still has something for Gwen and, I know I can't ask you that, but if you could just give them another chance and-"

"Courtney," He cut her off. "Gwen and I aren't dating for a while now so yeah, it's okay."

The former C.I.T. sighed quietly in relief for her ex-boyfriend not to hear. Unfortunately for her, he did hear but didn't say anything not to ruin the moment.

"Actually Princess, I think that's a great idea."

His gaze went from blank to the caller ID of the phone. The punk noticed then that she was calling from the same city as he was presently in.

"Courtney, are you stalking me?"

"No!"

"Sure?"

"Yes, of course. Why?"She demanded, a little offended by his ask.

"You have the same dial code as mine."

A short silence was heard. It was broken when Courtney chuckled.

"What a coincidence! You're living in Toronto too?

"Yeah. How long you've been here?"

"My whole life! And you?"

"A year now." He smiled but came back to the seriousness of the situation. "Look, can we meet tomorrow? Come with Trent and I'll be with Gwen."

She was astonished and a little disappointed but took a deep breath before saying a firm "Yes, where?"

"At that Starbucks at the corner of Brennan and the 13th avenue at 5. I'm sure you know where I am talking about…"

And she surely did. Duncan and she had shared their last kiss there before breaking up. He had sneaked out to see her a few years ago from his natal town. That utterly broke her heart just to think again about that.

"I'll see you." She weakly ended the conversation before hanging up the phone. She was a bit broken but she knew what she was doing was right. And after all the subject was not her and Duncan; it was Trent and Gwen. Just the musician and the goth; nothing else. Well, she hoped.

….

In their hearts, they both knew they didn't just have a bad day; it would have been way better if they could share it with each other. Gwen was certainly taking one down but knew that would last until he would get next to her. Trent was just singing a sad song he had composed just to turn it around, trying to change his mood. It didn't work; he was still sad as the day he left her. Music was his first love but, without her, he felt like nothing. She, on her side, couldn't admit it but she did a mistake. She should have let him a chance before turning her back to him. She would tell Duncan she doesn't know what was wrong, that was a lie. He would have asked Courtney not to lie when she said he was not a loser, he still felt rejected. Gwen used to work on a smile everyday but since she decided she wouldn't fake anymore, everyone now noticed she was sad. Then, she went for a ride to forget things but they were always coming back on mind. Trent was coming back down every time he glanced at his guitar and that hurt so much to know what he could have done with it but he tried really not to mind. Let's face it; he couldn't cry at each moment of the day he saw that painful object. Nevertheless he couldn't help but froze. They both had a bad day but it wouldn't be the last one.

…

"You need a blue sky holiday."Courtney said, catching her friend walking fast forward after the long day of work they both had badly as the last ones. She wanted to keep the surprise she deserved him so that he would be much happier to see Gwen. Well, of course Courtney wasn't that excited to see her since Gwen was the second person she hated the most (The first being Chris McLean) but, for Trent, she would do an effort and smile a bit at the sight of the black haired female.

"Uh?"

"Yeah, we could go on vacation next month. We could go to an island…"Her voice trailed off into a question.

"I can't miss anymore work days or else my boss will kill me."

"You should change work."

"That's the only thing I've got. I gotta hold on to it."He defended.

"The point is they laugh at any suggestion you say. That is supposed to be a work where every opinion counts…"She jumped in front of him to block him going any further. "You should come back to music."

"I am not coming back to that. I had my chance and I lost it; that's all."

She didn't need no carrying on on this. It was all clear about what he needed now. It was almost five, as said she started running fast toward the coffee shop. He was resistant but he followed her with exclamation marks in his eyes. They turned a street corner forward and arrived short of breath right at the entrance.

"Why, the, hell, did you… run?"He asked her, panting and sweating in his warm autumnal coat.

She didn't answer right away but pressed her face against the clean glass of the Starbucks, looking for who she had been searching. Courtney turned her head to her friend and grinned happily.

"Take a deep breath and walk in. You will see."

Trent looked confused at these words. He didn't make a fuss and headed in the café, taking a deep breath first and being followed close by the annoying prep. The guitarist took a few steps around, brushing the few people making the crowd. His gaze went from table to table.

The goth was sat in front of the punk who was sipping a latté. She was tipping her fingers nervously on the table while staring seriously pissed at her friend that seemed too serene for her. Duncan had brought her earlier here for a reason Gwen didn't know and that was getting on her damn last nerves. The worst of it was that she was stressing but didn't know why. Noticing her restlessness, Duncan stopped gulping his drink and lifted his chin to face her.

"Relax."

"How would you want me to relax if I don't know why we are here? Duncan, you know that stresses me more than anything if you don't say anything."

Just when he didn't know what to do to calm her down, Duncan saw him peeking around the establishment. The punk smiled to himself at the sight of Courtney following behind. She hadn't changed that much since the last season of TDA; she just wore a short sleeved black jersey knit dress with a belt over her tummy and dark tights underneath, a grey hooded blazer coat and a black a pair of black leather boots. She had waved her brown hair and it was longer than before. She grinned to him at the sight of him, as a symbol for both of them.

"Turn around."Duncan commanded just when Trent's sight was near them.

Gwen was still pretty upset but executed as the delinquent was done speaking. Her gaze went from east to west until… Until her gaze froze in his eyes. Their eyes were locked at the same time and they were caught into the same feeling. It was like all surrounding them just stopped and there were only them in here. In a sequence that seemed almost in slow motion, Duncan got up of the table and passed Trent, groaning near him, and joined Courtney. Trent made his way toward the swiveled girl, his body shaking nervously. Gwen couldn't manage to move, her jaw dropped and slowly transforming into a smile. Then, she stood up when he was closer to her. Trent stopped right in front of her, not even able to say anything else but just stare in her onyx shy eyes.

"Hey," She greeted after a long silence.

"Hey. So… How is it going?"

"Fine, yeah, fine."Gwen responded, really stunned by that whole thing. "You wanna sit?"

"No. Not before I tell you something."

The goth bit her lip, trying to imagine what that thing could be. Trent took both of her hands, not minding Duncan and Courtney peeking at them at the other side of the Starbuck. He could feel his heart beating faster than Gwen's was. He took another big breath.

"I know sometimes that big system goes on the blink, and the whole thing we try to do turns out wrong but I really think we should- "

Her lips on his cut his start of speech. She had swung her arms around his neck and given him what he deserved. She had missed his familiar scent and his olive eyes on her. She had missed everything of him. Now she got it back, she didn't want to separate from him. She wanted to stay in his arms forever and never let anyone hurt her. Gwen pulled her head from him but pressed her forehead against his, so their lips were merely brushing. Staring, she saw in Trent's eyes the answers of every single stupid question she was looking for. That was the passion she needed the most. There were just her and him.

"I missed you." Gwen whispered for him only to hear.

At the other side of the room, Courtney and Duncan were peeking at the couple, on a table near a window. She was obviously trying to hide the fact that she was really shy with Duncan next to her, though she had known him for a few years. The punk easily guessed that.

"So, what's up with you?"

"Uh, nothing. I am studying law at college and I have the apartment right in front of Trent's."

_Oh shit._ He thought at this fact. Though Gwen and Trent just kissed, it doesn't mean he wouldn't try to do anything with Courtney; they're neighbors and if Duncan remembered well, he used to do really nasty things with the girl next door.

"And you?"

"Nothing. Just the usual crap, you know. I'm still rich as before and I make investments at places and others."

"Great. I'm glad you didn't spend it in stupidities."The prep grinned. She looked again toward the couple sharing a few kisses after each word they were saying. "Though I still hate Gwen, I admit they form a great couple. I still remember this morning when Trent was so down and thought he couldn't make it back. That's amazing."

"I guess she would have said yesterday she couldn't be that strong. I told her the contrary so I am not wrong."

Then he realized. The way she talked, the way she smiled, the way she acted, everything about Courtney made him happy. She was the only thing missing. Duncan knew it by this time; he loved her, he always did.

"Courtney?"

"Hum?"She turned her attention back to him.

"What about a second chance? I mean, for you and me?"

She didn't know what to say when he took her hands right in his warm familiar ones. She could feel the same old badass she had once loved before, but in the whole different way. She didn't hate him, she didn't feel lust for him; she just felt home. Something that never happened before. But thinking of what he did to her before blew that illusion off. Cheating on her, betray her, leave her. She might have been a bitch on TDI and TDI but at least she knew her heart was just his. And he should have known too. The prep took back her hands from his palms, getting up the fastest way she could.

"Look Duncan, that's not possible. Let's just be friends okay?"

Courtney didn't wait for his answer to exit the café and leave Duncan alone and a happy couple. At least she made some people joyful but, for herself it was definitely a bad day.

…

They both sat there talking until the closing of the Starbucks. Sparkles were flying, love was filling the air and hearts were beating fast. Hands in hands, the left the shop on the grumpy employee's demand and walked out on the dark street. Duncan had left two hours or so ago, right after Courtney. The couple walked until the other end of the street, with the really cold wind blowing on their faces.

"So…"Gwen questioned wrapping her arms around his neck.

"So…"He grinned like if it was a game.

"I still have time to spend so we could go to your apartment and…"

"And…"He trailed off, putting a kiss on her dark red lips.

"You could play a few songs for me. You know I miss them all." **(*)**

"Great idea, my lady, great idea."On that point, he swung his arm around his new girlfriend's shoulders and they started walking. Well, sometimes things have happy endings and though tomorrow might be as worse as today, at least they have each other. The rain started pouring and they kept smiling, Gwen giving him 9 kisses on his cheeks. That was a pretty bad day but now… who cares?

…

It was 2 am when the prep heard someone ringing at the door. The apartment building seemed all quiet like if no one lived around. Although she knew that was a safe neighborhood, she was a bit suspicious. Perhaps that was Trent wanting to share with her every little detail of his long romantic moment with Gwen… Courtney got up from bed, her hair really messy, and walked through the living room toward the door. She took care of clutching the baseball bat that was always in the wardrobe in the hall, holding it tight into her grips. She looked into the peeping hole and dropped the objet at the sight. The former C.I.T. quickly opened the door and let a completely awake Duncan look at her while she was in PJs. He didn't make any remarks but lifted his eyes to stare in her onyx beautiful eyes.

"I don't want to be friends."

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(*) Hey, just asking, who thought wrong at this sentence? Oh, naughty you! Told you I'm not random… okay I am but most of the time no.

Okay, I know that seems more like the start of a new story but it is a one-shot. Or maybe a two. Depends. And the ending, I know it sucks but hey, I couldn't let you without at least ONE cliffhanger...

Review?


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